Little Liverpool Range Initiative From Little Things, Big Things - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Little Liverpool Range Initiative

From Little Things, Big Things Grow

What is the Little Liverpool Range Initiative?

• A community based initiative that

endeavours to connect and protect, habitat, species and people so that they all may survive and thrive

Where is the Little Liverpool Range?

• Extending from Hatton Vale in the north to Main Range National Park in the

south, the Little Liverpool Range is 51 kilometres long and covers approx. 46,000 hectares

Formation of the Little Liverpool Range?

• Tertiary period (22 – 25 million years ago)
• Numerous nearly horizontal lava flows, mainly of basalt, which erupted to gradually

build a complex and elongated volcano.

• Basalt lava flows have a low viscosity and tend to flow large distances forming

gently sloping shield volcanoes (as opposed to classical steep sided peaks like Mt Fuji)

• The Main Range & Little Liverpool Range shields formed part of a wider area of

volcanic activity spreading northwards past Toowoomba and Kingaroy.

• Other volcanoes of similar age include Mt Barney and the much larger Tweed

Volcano whose remains form the Lamington Plateau and Border Ranges.

• The Main Range volcano is believed to have spread as far east as the Kalbar -

Boonah and northeast to Rosewood

Tertiary Period

The Paleocene Epoch 65 to 54 million years ago Australia is joined to Antarctica The condylarths-ancestors

• f modern hoofed

herbivores Rodents The first Primates The Eocene Epoch 54 to 38 million years ago Europe and North America separate Bats Elephant ancestors Whales Eohippus-the first horse The Oligocene Epoch 38 to 24 million years ago Australia separates from Antarctica Antarctica is covered by glaciers Sea levels are low Dogs, cats, and pigs toothed whales The Miocene Epoch 24 to 5 million years ago Africa is pushing into Europe-forms the Alps Arctic becomes covered with ice Horses, camels, and rhinos Beaver-like animals many apes and other primates The Pliocene Epoch 5 to 1.8 million years ago Africa closes off the Mediterranean Sea North and South America join at Panama The Geography of the earth similar to today First hominids-human ancestors

Due to its long-term isolation (~40 million years) as an island continent, the vast majority of Australia’s native marsupial (93%), rodent (91%) and microbat (73%) species are found nowhere else. Within the last 200 years at least 25 species of Australian mammals (almost 10%) have become extinct and many more (20% of remaining species) are now threatened. This rate of mammal extinction is the highest in the world and represents a significant loss of unique biodiversity.

Challenges

• Habitat loss
• Managing invasive species
• Over grazing
• Unsustainable practices
• Population growth
• Climate change
• Altered fire regimes
• Altered hydrology

Will connectivity exacerbate the spread of weeds, pest species, diseases or catastrophic events (such as fire or floods)?

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Great Eastern Ranges

A good start for scale

The Turner Family Foundation 4,638 Ha – Old Hidden Vale 682 Ha – Thornton Views Qld Trust for Nature 1,970 Ha - Aroona ICC (Mt Beau Brummel Conservation Park) 155 Ha 7,445 Ha

Hidden Vale – A brief history

1829 Alan Cunningham first Europeans 1841 First European Settler, James Phelps Robinson 1849 Property was 155,000 hectares in size and stretched over the NSW border 1871 Property reduced to 4,000 hectares after being resumed by the newly formed Queensland State Government 1999 Acquired by the Turner family

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James Phelps Robinson

• 1841
• Property Called Franklyn Vale

Henry and Maria Mort

• 1849
• 155,000 Ha’s, 13,000 Sheep

Philip Jost

• 1871
• Property renamed ‘Jost Vale’
• Property reduced to 4,000 Ha’s after resumption by the newly formed Qld State Government

A.J. Cotton

• 1900
• Property named Hidden Vale

Day Family

• 1929
• Property renamed ‘Sutton Royal’

Murdo Mackenzie

• 1929
• Property renamed ‘Old Hidden Vale’ and was 3,000 Ha’s
• Mackenzie died 1957; sisters sold part of the property in 1964. Margaret Crombie held the

balance which included Old Hidden Vale.

Cole Family

• Acquired Old Hidden Vale in 1992 and acquired additional parcels of land over time taking the

property back to about the same size as when it was Jost Vale

Turner Family

• Acquired Old Hidden Vale from the Cole family towards the end of 1999

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Hidden Vale today

• Working cattle property of over 400 head
• 36 Room luxury retreat
• Series of mountain bike trails – over 150 kms
• Bush walking ecotourism operation
• Hidden Vale Wildlife Centre
• Commitment to ecological restoration

Wildlife at the Centre

Mahogany gliders Northern brown bandicoots Fat tailed dunnarts Blue tongue lizards

Wildlife at The Centre Eastern bristlebirds…

 Aviaries prepared  Birds due in August  Existing captive breeding program with

Currumbin Sanctuary

 As a model for other endangered species at HV

Some of our wildlife

• Koalas
• Glossy Black Cockatoos
• Pale Headed Rosellas
• Rainbow Lorikeets
• Powerful Owls
• Red-necked wallaby
• Brush tailed rock wallaby
• Common brushtail possum
• Brush tailed phascogale
• Greater glider
• Sugar glider
• Long nosed bandicoot
• Yellow-footed antechinus
• Tusked Frog
• Red bellied black snake
• Yellow faced whip snake
• Lesueur’s tree frog

Some of our possible wildlife

• Eastern bristlebird
• Spotted quoll

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Fire Map 2002-2015

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Low fire incidences

• ver past decades –

need to review fire management with broader community

Hidden Vale Project

• To deliver resilient ecosystems with representative, self-sustaining populations
• f fauna and flora endemic to the Scenic Rim

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The Hidden Vale Koala Project

An intensive koala project to develop:

 A thriving and sustainable kola population at Hidden Vale…

a “koala haven”…

 Healthy koalas for bolstering their populations through the

Little Liverpool Range… a “koala fountain”…

Aim to find out:

 The size of the HV koala population;  Health status and movements;  Current threats – predation, disease, habitat change;  Strategies for increasing koalas at HV;

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The Koala Project

How – Catch, examine and collar every koala in a prescribed area

• Monitor health and movements of all koalas for 12 months
• Treat and release any diseased koalas

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• 3. The Koala Project

The Results (so far)

Three capture sessions so far, each of three days. 15 adult koalas have been captured, examined, fitted with a radio-tracking collar and released at their point of capture, with 4 joeys:

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The Koala Project

The Results:

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The Results: we have an unusual and valuable population:



Most appear healthy with low level of chlamydia



Most are young adults –few older koalas



The population is breeding well.



The LX tracking collars allow them to be tracked twice per day

1 2 3 4 5 1-2yrs 2-3yrs 3-4yrs 4-5yrs 5-6yrs 6-7yrs 7-8yrs 8-9yrs 9-10yrs Number of koalas Age range

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• 3. The Koala Project

The Next Steps –

• 1. Continue project in the Nature Refuge;
• 2. Monitor their use of the koala plantations;
• 3. Look for potential interactions with cattle;
• 4. Continue to monitor movements and health of all koalas;
• 5. Chlamydia vaccine field trial
• 6. Look at possible eco tourism opportunities -

develop “koala safaris”…

Questions?